Dame dances, Nurk shows he's ready for the playoff stage
Portland had their worst offensive game of the bubble and beat the Lakers
2018 has been a big year in the conversation surrounding the 2020 playoff series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers. After Game 1, it appears that two years and an NBA bubble in which homecourt advantage does not exist changes quite a few things. Anthony Davis and the Pelicans swept the Portland Trail Blazers that year. It was also the last time that LeBron James was in the playoffs, back when he was in the East. But after one game, the Blazers showed Davis they aren’t the same team that got swept in 2018 and they showed LeBron what he already knew: this Blazers team is not a typical 8th seed. And now the Blazers are up 1-0 in the best-of-seven series against L.A.
When Lillard was on the floor, the Lakers blitzed him. When CJ had the ball and Dame was on the bench they threw a double. They sent doubles in the middle of the possession, they had guys cover Dame and CJ full court. But as Terry Stotts said before the game, at this point, there is nothing that Lillard and McCollum haven’t seen together. But what we haven’t seen, since 2018, was Jusuf Nurkić in the playoffs. How would he hold up? Would he make the right decisions in his first game against this Lakers team? How is he holding up mentally after the tragic loss of his grandma?
Well, after the game Nurk said that he has deleted all social media, taking a page from his Klutch Sports comrade and going Zero Dark 27. Now that he’s here, despite everything else, Nurk is blessed to be present right where he is in the bubble, with the memory of his grandmother to guide him.
“Blessed man,” Nurk said after his first playoff game in over two years. “The way everything happened for me last year, it was a similar situation. But I got hurt with 10 games before the playoffs, but to be in the position to be in the playoffs and play in the game, I don’t take that for granted. Obviously I don’t think we played our best but I’m happy we got a win.”
Early on, Nurk set the tone with a few 3-point attempts, something that wasn’t in his arsenal in 2018.
“I think it’s big-time,” Nurk said of his 3-pointers, on which he went 1 for 2. “I believe in myself, I’m a confident guy. I’ve been working on it for a couple of years. I know that I had to take those shots in the bubble to be more comfortable.”
To Nurk’s point, Portland did not play particularly well. They played their worst offensive game of the bubble and one of their worst of the entire season. Tuesday was the first time in 10 that they won a game in which they scored 100 points or less. While the Lakers struggled offensively, this has been who they are so far in the Orlando bubble, posting the third-worst offense in the seeding games among 22 teams. So while Portland’s offense wasn’t quite their normal selves, Gary Trent Jr. going cold until a clutch 3-pointer late and the same for Carmelo Anthony, who supplemented his clutch 3-pointer with a team-high five assists, they were a little bit closer to their normal selves than L.A. was, hitting 39 percent of their 3-pointers and winning on a night they shot below 40 percent from the field overall.
Anthony Davis and LeBron James did not play their best games either, but they got little to no help from anyone else offensively. Even though the Lakers were strong with their defensive game plan, there were too many miscues on the offensive end and too many Alex Caruso pull-up 3-pointers for them to succeed in the first round, let alone beyond it. The frustration from LeBron and cutters not knowing when to expect passes was palpable. And after the game, Davis could only talk about the lack of energy from not having a crowd.
So while it sounds like the Lakers are still getting used to the bubble even after being there for a month, the Blazers were born in it. Molded by it. After nine games of playoff intensity, tonight’s Game 1 was no different than anything Portland had already handled, buoyed as always by their star. In the middle of a tied playoff game, Disney game operations decided to play the Oakland anthem “Blow The Whistle” by Too $hort following a timely Lillard 3-pointer. It was at this point that I realized there was no way the Blazers were losing this game.
Thankfully on this night, Hassan Whiteside was not going dumb, he was simply causing fits at the rim for the Lakers offense. He had three early blocks and then two enormous ones down the stretch, including a big one on LeBron James that led to a Lillard 3. After being used sparingly in the seeding games, Whiteside racked up 26 minutes, ending with seven points, eight rebounds, and five crucial blocks that Portland needed. WHITESIDE RESPECTERS UNITE!
“We knew coming into this series, they have a lot of guys that are active in the paint. They big in there,” Lillard said. “We need our guys to have a presence on the floor. This is big as far as Suge (Whiteside) being on the floor. He blocked shots, he changed shots, he rebounded. He had a positive impact on the game and without him tonight, we don’t win this game.”
Wenyen Gabriel, too, made Anthony Davis’ night a living hell being a major factor in disrupting his dribble. James was excellent with 23 points, 17 rebounds and 16 assists but we may see a LeBron more aggressive in looking for his own shot in Game 2. But Game 1 reinforced that basketball is a 10-man sport. Portland’s supporting players played their part and that was the difference in Game 1. The Lakers may get an experienced playoff performer in Rondo back for Game 2 and this series is far from over with two elite players across the way. But Portland showed tonight that they’ve come along way from 2018 and that this series will be far from quick work for the big, bad Lakers.